Preparing for Science Communication Events

One great presentation can do what multiple applications can't. Over the years, my presentations have earned awards, speaking invitations, and opportunities I never applied for. Most recently, at MAA MathFest 2024, someone from the audience approached me and said: "Your talk was so engaging. You made such a complex topic accessible." On the spot, he invited me to speak to high school students in Chicago. Full expenses paid + speaker fee. Here is the framework I use every single time... (You might want to save this.) 1. Know your audience before you make a single slide → Kids? Public? Policy makers? Academics? → Your job is to design your talk to suit them. → Picture one person in the audience, let's call them "Bola." 2. Map out the entire talk first → Write the takeaway from each slide in one sentence. → Connect each slide logically to the next. → Ask yourself: Will Bola digest this information? 3. Ditch the jargon → Would Bola understand this? → If not, go back to the drawing board. → Use simple, plain English. 4. Make it visual → One message per slide. Big font. Bullet points. → Use visuals or illustrations instead of text (if possible.)  → The moment your audience starts reading your slides, you've lost them. 5. Practice as you build each slide → After creating each slide, ask: What will I say here? → This reveals what to add, remove, or fix as you go. → Once done, practice the full presentation again. 6. Never read off your slides during delivery → Deliver like you're telling a story. → Everything on screen is just supporting visuals. → Know your slides inside out. Keep eye contact. 7. Use your body language intentionally → Don't stare at the ceiling, ground, or stand frozen. → Your movement and energy speak louder than words. → This automatically communicates confidence and authority. Great presentations aren’t about showing how smart you are. They’re about making your audience feel something... curiosity, clarity, and inspiration. That’s what makes you memorable. And that’s what opens doors. --- PS: What's ONE thing that's helped you improve your presentations? PPS: Want to see this framework in action? Link to the Chicago talk is in the comments. ♻️ REPOST if this was useful. Thanks!

Teams spend $3k - $10k making important decks prettier. The napkin math feels obvious: What’s $3k if it helps win a $1M deal, raise a round, or land an executive decision? But they're solving the wrong problem. Don't confuse pretty slides with effective presentations. Here’s the counterexample: YC has seen thousands of pitch decks with millions of dollars at stake. And its recommended deck template is almost aggressively plain. [See 1st image] No fancy formatting. No visual sorcery. No expensive design work. Just ruthless focus on what matters: the story. That got me thinking, so I made a simple pyramid for building effective decks. I call it the 4S framework: Story → So what → Spotlight → Style [See 2nd image] Most people build decks backward. They start with style. Great decks start with story. 1. Story This is the backbone of the presentation. Your deck is not a collection of slides. It’s an argument you're building. Each slide should create enough momentum for the next one. Less information dump, more of an engaging journey. 2. So what Every slide needs a reason to exist. As the reader, why should I care? If I can’t tell within 10 seconds, the slide has failed. Don’t write: "Revenue declined 8% YoY in Q3." Write: "Revenue declined 8% YoY in Q3, primarily due to enterprise churn, signaling an urgent need to stabilize the top 20 accounts before expanding new-logo acquisition." The first reports a number. The second explains why the number matters. 3. Spotlight Once you’ve made the point, show me the evidence. Don’t make me hunt for it. The most important number, chart movement, customer quote, or insight should already be screaming for attention. 4. Style Only after the fundamentals are strong should you worry about making the slide beautiful. Because visual appeal without narrative clarity is just eye candy. Good design helps the story land. It cannot replace the story. ---- As we build Slidely, I’m also putting together a collection of presentation principles from the best resources I’ve found: Analyst Academy, Vinod Khosla, YC, and what we’re learning from building Slidely itself. Worth sharing?

How to create great MBB slides as a PRO (even if you’re not a designer) I’ve probably made over 10,000 slides in my career. According to Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-Hour Rule, that technically makes me a slide master God. (Or maybe just someone who needs new hobbies.) But here’s the twist: I’m not a designer. I’m a lawyer by training. My natural design instincts are zero. And yet, I’ve learned to make slides that work, not because of fancy design skills, but because of a few simple principles that anyone can apply. Here’s how to make slides that actually work: 1. Always start with the message. Before adding any charts, graphs, or visuals, ask yourself: • What is the key takeaway? • How do I want the audience to react? • What elements best support this message? Tattoo this on your brain: A slide where the elements don’t support the message is a bad slide. Period. 2. Use a strong title and subtitle. Every slide needs a clear title that tells you what it’s about and a subtitle that provides the key insight. Example: • Title: “Global sales performance” • Subtitle: “North America drives 60% of growth” 3. Stick to simple and consistent layouts. A good slide should be easy to read at a glance. My go-to layouts: • One chart with commentary: Chart on the left, key takeaways on the right. • Two simple charts side by side: For comparing metrics or trends. • Three columns: When comparing options or showing steps, use three aligned boxes with short text. • Image and text pairing: Image on one side, the message on the other. Keep it simple. The art belongs in the museum, not on your slide. 4. Less is more with text • Bullet points, not paragraphs. • Short phrases, not long sentences. • If your slide looks like an essay, start over. 5. Alignment and precision matter. Nothing makes a slide look messier than poor alignment. • Align elements consistently. • Use symmetry wherever possible. • White space is not your enemy, clutter is. 6. Keep charts simple and actionable • Bar charts, line charts, scatter plots, stick to what works. • Always label axes and show units. • Highlight key data points. 7. The 5-second rule • Can you tell what the slide is about in 5 seconds? • Is the key insight crystal clear? • Would a stranger understand it instantly? The bottom line: If your slide doesn’t support your message, it’s just a distraction. And if your message isn’t clear, neither is your impact.

I've built a lot of slides in 9 yrs at Google. Here are 9 practical tips I've learned: 1/ 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. Write your headlines first. Figure out your "flow." Don't flesh out your slides until you've nailed the storyline. This will save you hours of wasted effort later on. 2/ 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. Most people have way too many slides. Cut it down. The less flicking around you need to do, the more attention you'll get, and the sharper your message will be. 3/ 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 "𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁" 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱. Most content is written with no bias towards action. They get presented — and then forgotten — since there's no implied next steps. Do the opposite. Think hard about your calls-to-action and articulate it well. 4/ 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆. Writing chronologically means you're burying the lead. You'll lose your audience quickly. Always lead with the conclusion instead. 5/ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀. Don't simply throw big numbers onto a slide and hope it'll impress. It won't work. Instead, help your audience out by thoughtfully benchmarking or indexing. 6/ 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆. Slides make it easy to get away with lazy thinking. So you often end up with colorful boxes with generic buzzwords, or bullet points with incomplete thoughts. Avoid this trap. Challenge yourself to articulate complete thoughts while still achieving brevity. 7/ 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗱𝘂𝗵" 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁, 𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗹𝘆. Ask yourself if anyone would read what you wrote and go either "duh!" or "no sh*t!" If so, you're wasting people's time. Sharpen it until there's actual insight. 8/ 𝗕𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲. Your use of space always tells a story. Don't give disproportionate real estate to unimportant content. And vice versa. Otherwise you'll undermine yourself. 9/ 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 "𝗱𝘂𝗺𝗯" 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. Avoid littering your slides with corp-speak. Be straightforward whenever possible. Of course, this doesn't give you the right to ignore numbers or engage in generic platitudes. It just means that you find the simplest way to anchor your audience. Then you can back it up with detail. __ 𝗣.𝗦. Looking to nerd out a bit more? Grab the 50-page playbook I built for free: 🎯 hernglee.gumroad.com It's what I wish someone gave me at the start of my career. So I built it! __ 👋 Hi! I'm Herng, and I write about my learnings as a strategy manager at Google. Follow for more tips! ♻️ Reshare this post if it can help others!

If you want your next presentation to inform, engage, and stick, this is the framework you need….. One of my best reads (A summary) Fact: AI slide generators won’t save you. Powerful slides aren’t about automation. Slides aren’t filler. They’re the frame that holds your message; visually, cognitively, and emotionally. A single slide can speak more powerfully than 10 spoken minutes when done well. ——————————————— ➊ 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲 ➜ A slide = one thought. No more. No less. 📌 Break complex ideas into digestible visuals. ➋ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝟭 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲” ➜ If it takes longer than a minute to explain a slide… 📌 It’s doing too much. Cut or split it. ➌ 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 ➜ “Results” isn’t a heading. 📌 Try: “This method increases accuracy by 37%.” ➍ 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗹𝘆 ➜ If you won’t speak to it, delete it. 📌 Every extra label is cognitive noise. ➎ 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲 ➜ Add references as you build, not at the end. 📌 A polished slide acknowledges others. ➏ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀 ➜ Visuals aren’t decoration; they’re delivery tools. 📌 Avoid text-only slides. Always. ➐ 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 ➜ 6 elements max. 📌 Use white space, bold selectively, and avoid clutter. ➑ 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 ➜ If they hear nothing, can they still see the takeaway? 📌 Assume your viewer is half-tuned in and still make an impact. ➒ 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 = 𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 ➜ Your transitions reveal your thinking. 📌 Practicing reveals which slides don’t flow. ➓ 𝗠𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 ➜ PDFs > animations. Backup slides > failed videos. 📌 Assume something will break and prepare for it. ——————————————— 📍Your slides are not your script. They’re not your paper. They’re your audience’s window into your idea. Make every second of their attention count. 💬 Which slide mistake are you guilty of and ready to fix? ♻️ Repost to help someone transform their next research talk. 📄 Reference: Naegle, K. M. (2021). Ten simple rules for effective presentation slides. PLOS Computational Biology, 17(12): e1009554. #PresentationTips #SlideDesign #AcademicCommunication

Want to make your audience SUFFER? Your guide to creating MOST BORING presentations: 1/ MORE is better ↳ Cram every slide with text ↳ Put EVERY single bullet on slide REALITY CHECK: When presenters do this, audiences: • Mentally check out within 2 minutes • Miss the key message entirely 2/ Tell, don't show ↳ Theory over examples ↳ Words trump visuals REALITY CHECK: Research shows audiences: • Retain only 10% of verbal info • Zone out during theory-only talks • Can't process walls of text 3/ Be a corporate robot 🤖 ↳ Remove all personality ↳ Perfection beats authenticity REALITY CHECK: Studies confirm: • Robotic speakers lose 70% of attention • Audiences crave human connection 4/ Test their memory ↳ Pack 20 ideas per section ↳ Make them guess takeaways REALITY CHECK: Brain science reveals: • People remember max 3-5 key points • Information overload kills learning 5/ Time slot? Ignore it! ↳ Go overtime ↳ Leave NO room for questions REALITY CHECK: Going overtime means: • Lost audience trust • Reduced impact 6/ Drown them in numbers ↳ Show ALL the data ↳ Context is overrated REALITY CHECK: Data overload causes: • Mental shutdown • Lost message impact • Audience frustration 7/ Start with your life bio ↳ Start from birth ↳ List every achievement REALITY CHECK: Opening with bio means: • Lost first impression • Wasted attention span • Audience disconnection 8/ Slides lead, you follow ↳ Read every bullet point ↳ Turn your back to audience REALITY CHECK: This approach: • Kills audience engagement • Breaks eye contact • Shows lack of preparation 9/ Avoid all analogies ↳ Keep it complex ↳ Make it impossible to relate REALITY CHECK: Complex presentations: • Create mental barriers • Waste everyone's time 10/ Use the most boring intro ↳ Start with "Today we will discuss..." ↳ List all agenda items twice REALITY CHECK: Boring intros result in: • Immediate phone checking • Mental checkout 11/ Multiple messages everywhere ↳ Change topics randomly ↳ Maximum confusion encouraged REALITY CHECK: Message overload means: • Zero retention • Complete confusion • Lost audience trust 12/ Avoid all controversy ↳ State only obvious facts ↳ Keep it mind-numbingly safe REALITY CHECK: Playing it too safe: • Makes content forgettable • Kills learning opportunities 13/ Stick to the script ↳ Ignore audience reactions ↳ Push through no matter what REALITY CHECK: Ignoring audience cues: • Breaks connection • Ruins engagement 14/ Panic at "mistakes" ↳ Apologize profusely ↳ Point out every error REALITY CHECK: Constant apologizing: • Undermines credibility • Distracts from content 15/ Skip all examples ↳ Keep it theoretical ↳ Never get practical REALITY CHECK: No examples means: • Lost context • Zero relatability → Want to be memorable? Do the exact OPPOSITE → Your audience will thank you ♻️ REPOST to help your network get better with presentations 📌 Which of these mistakes have you suffered through recently?

Imagine you've performed an in-depth analysis and uncovered an incredible insight. You’re now excited to share your findings with an influential group of stakeholders. You’ve been meticulous, eliminating biases, double-checking your logic, and ensuring your conclusions are sound. But even with all this diligence, there’s one common pitfall that could diminish the impact of your insights: information overload. In our excitement, we sometimes flood stakeholders with excessive details, dense reports, cluttered dashboards, and long presentations filled with too much information. The result is confusion, disengagement, and inaction. Insights are not our children, we don’t have to love them equally. To truly drive action, we must isolate and emphasize the insights that matter most—those that directly address the problem statement and have the highest impact. Here’s how to present insights effectively to ensure clarity, engagement, and action: ✅ Start with the Problem – Frame your insights around the problem statement. If stakeholders don’t see the relevance, they won’t care about the data. ✅ Prioritize Key Insights – Not all insights are created equal. Share only the most impactful findings that directly influence decision-making. ✅ Tell a Story, Not Just Show Data– Structure your presentation as a narrative: What was the challenge? What did the data reveal? What should be done next? A well-crafted story is more memorable than a raw data dump. ✅ Use Clean, Intuitive Visuals – Data-heavy slides and cluttered dashboards overwhelm stakeholders. Use simple, insightful charts that highlight key takeaways at a glance. ✅ Make Your Recommendations Clear– Insights without action are meaningless. End with specific, actionable recommendations to guide decision-making. ✅ Encourage Dialogue, Not Just Presentation – Effective communication is a two-way street. Invite questions and discussions to ensure buy-in from stakeholders. ✅ Less is More– Sometimes, one well-presented insight can be more powerful than ten slides of analysis. Keep it concise, impactful, and decision-focused. Before presenting, ask yourself: Am I providing clarity or creating confusion? The best insights don’t just inform—they inspire action. What strategies do you use to make your insights more actionable? Let’s discuss! P.S: I've shared a dashboard I reviewed recently, and thought it was overloaded and not actionably created

A year ago, I focused on what was on my slides. Last week, I focused on what was in the room. Presenting my Victoria’s Secret competitive strategy case at NYU taught me something unexpected. Confidence isn’t about speaking louder. It’s about speaking with clarity. NYU genuinely changed how I present. I no longer build slides to “cover content.” I build them to guide attention. The goal is not to finish slides. It’s to hold the room. Three shifts changed everything for me: 1. The 1-6-6 rule One slide. One idea. Six words. Six supporting points at most. If a slide tries to do too much, people remember nothing. When I presented Victoria’s Secret, every slide had a single strategic takeaway. Cultural capital eroded before financial capital. The backlash was structural, not cosmetic. The pivot was about legitimacy, not aesthetics. Clear ideas stick. 2. Less on slides. More in voice. I used to over-design. Now I leave space. If your slide says everything, you become optional. If it supports you, you lead. 3. Present like a story, not a report. I structured the case as a journey: the rise, the backlash, the decline, the reset. People remember narratives, not scattered data. Grateful to Professor Court Stroud for constantly emphasizing clarity over clutter, and to Professor Tariq Khan (He/Him/His) for giving an open space to present our favorite case. NYU has not just improved my slides. It has strengthened my voice. Attaching the Google Drive link to my full case study for anyone interested. If you’re working on your presentation skills: Design for clarity. Speak slower. Own your pauses. Build with intention. Because slides don’t hold rooms. People do.

You can't shake the doubt. You've spent weeks on this pitch. It looks ready. But is it really? I've watched biotech founders lose opportunities over shitty slides. A headline that confused instead of connecting. A metric buried where no one could find it. A next step that left everyone wondering what happens after the meeting. The science was solid. The opportunity was real. But the pitch didn't land. Here's what I learned after 100+ deck reviews: A great deck isn't about more slides. It's about being authentic to your story. Your 8-step checklist: #1 Create One Clear Headline Per Slide (not the topic—the takeaway) #2 Make Every Step Visually Obvious (3-5 icons, horizontal) #3 Turn Your Slides Into a Seamless Story (unmet need → insight → commercial fit) #4 Make Every Slide Easy to Read Anywhere (WCAG AA contrast, 28pt minimum) #5 Lead With the Metric That Drives Decisions (ORR, CAGR, whatever moves the conversation) #6 End With a Clear Ask and Next Step (no one should leave confused) #7 Keep Your Language Simple and Clear (save technical depth for speaker notes) #8 Do One Last Polish Pass (delete extras, spell-check, rehearse under 30 seconds per slide) The founders who close rounds don't wing it. They prepare like their company depends on it. Because it does. ________________ 🧠 Save this before your next pitch ♻️ Share if preparation beats improvisation ➕ Follow Michelle for biotech deck insights

PowerPoint Is Killing Your Case. Your Brain Checked Out Three Bullets Ago. Use “Visualization Theory” techniques instead. Lawyers cling to PowerPoint like it’s a security blanket. Twelve bullet points. A case citation. A closing sentence no one remembers. Here’s the reality I’ve come to accept — after decades of trying cases, arbitrating, and presenting to rooms full of smart people: PowerPoint is a terrible persuasion tool because it ignores how the human brain actually works. If you want to understand persuasion, start with the people who study how humans process information. John Sweller — Cognitive Load Theory Sweller’s found the brain has very limited working memory. If your audience is reading text and listening to you at the same time, you’ve already lost them. It’s multitasking inside the human head — and the science says we’re not built for it. Richard Mayer — Multimedia Learning Mayer spent decades testing how people learn from words and images. His conclusion: spoken words + a meaningful visual = retention. But spoken words + on-screen text = overload. One reinforces. One competes. Most presenters unknowingly choose the losing side. Picture Superiority Effect (Standing, Nelson, Paivio) For 50 years, memory research has shown the same thing: People remember pictures far better than words. Not a little better. Orders of magnitude better. This is why a single image or metaphor can anchor an entire presentation. IDEO — Low-Fidelity Visuals IDEO is the design firm that changed how the world prototypes. Their insight is counterintuitive: Rough, hand-drawn visuals outperform polished graphics. Sketches invite you in. Slides that look “finished” shut you out. If your visuals look like marketing, your audience treats them like marketing. Ference Marton — Variation Theory Marton showed that people understand concepts better when they see them in multiple forms. It’s how the mind recognizes patterns and builds meaning. If all your slides look the same, your audience learns nothing new after slide one. So what should advocates actually do using Visualization Theory? • Start with a visual metaphor everyone recognizes. • Use simple sketches, not brochure art. • Change the visual form as you move through your themes. • Keep one clean evidence/data slide behind each sketch. • And stop reading to your audience. They can do that without you. If you want your audience — judge, jury, arbitrator, board — to understand and remember you: Give them a story they can see. Visuals persuade. Text numbs. “The soul never thinks without an image.” — Aristotle